Ledger's Will Dilemma Reflects Wider Issue

The aftermath of Heath Ledger's death took a unexpected turn this week after word got out that the actor had reportedly failed to include his ex-fiancé Michelle Williams and their 2-year-old daughter, Maltida, in his will.

Ledger, who died of an accidental prescription drug overdose in January, had apparently never updated his will after the birth of Matilda, leaving everything he owned to his parents and three sisters and triggering an ugly family dispute.

"For celebrities not to be up to date on this stuff, it is a bit surprising," said D.J. Wells, a married father of two living in Redondo Beach, Calif.

Related

How the Rich Hide Their Wealth

PHOTOS: 'Queen of Mean' Items on Auction

RSS Feed: Send News to Your Computer

"If I were a celebrity, I imagine I'd have a team of lawyers working on every aspect of my life," he said.

Alexis Martin Neely, Wells' estate lawyer, agreed.

"You should certainly call your lawyer if you've had a baby or if you were getting married," Neely told ABC News," and your lawyer would make sure that all of your assets were accounted for in estate plans."

Wells says he makes sure to meet Neely at least every three years to update his will. That sort of vigilance may put him in the minority.

Some family and probate lawyers say that stories about celebrities who fail to keep their wills current reflect a wider problem. Former model and Playboy Playmate Anna Nicole Smith, left her fortune to her son, Daniel, but failed to update her will after he died or after she gave birth to her daughter Dannielynn, leaving the now 18 month old girl out of the will. Smith and Daniel died five months apart, both from prescription drug overdoses.

Celebrity or not, many people just aren't paying attention to their postmortem plans for distributing assets to loved ones.

"Unfortunately, it is very typical because, first of all, many people don't even have estate plans and when they do, they're not regularly updated," said Willem Gravett, a matrimonial and family lawyer in Mt. Kisco, N.Y.

A 2007 survey by Bankrate.com found that 57 percent of more than 1,000 people polled didn't have wills. The problem extends beyond just concerns over inheritance; for parents, there's also the issue of guardians -- those entrusted to raise their children if both parents die.

"Parents are really busy today," Neely said. Naming guardians, she said, is something "they intend to do but never get around to and they just keep putting it off and putting it off."

Gravett said that one of the reasons people put off putting together or updating estate plans is because there often isn't a sense of urgency motivating them. Then there's the general distaste that death talk leaves in the mouths of many.